Tony Baxter

Tony Wayne Baxter (born February 1, 1947) is the former senior vice president of creative development in Walt Disney Imagineering and was responsible for creating designs and carrying out the construction of attractions all over the world. He announced his departure from his full-time position to become a part-time adviser on February 1, 2013. During his 47-year tenure with the company, he oversaw the construction of multiple contemporary Disney theme park attractions, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Star Tours, Splash Mountain, The Indiana Jones Adventure, and Journey Into Imagination, and served as the executive producer of Disneyland Paris.

Baxter was first hired at Disneyland Park in 1965 as an ice cream scooper on Main Street, U.S.A. at the age of 17. During his employment at the park, he held many different positions. He later caught the attention of WED Enterprises (now known as Walt Disney Imagineering). During his first 24 years he built up his rank within the company until he was given the position as senior vice president of creative development in Walt Disney Imagineering. His projects include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris, and remodeling Fantasyland and Tomorrowland in Disneyland.

Inspiration Tony Baxter was interested in Disneyland since the day it opened, when he was 8 years old. He first toured Imagineering before being hired at the parks. This was around the same time Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln came to Disneyland Park. Baxter watched the show and was instantly captivated with Disney engineering.

Splash Mountain Splash Mountain opened at Disneyland in 1989. America Sings, another attraction at Disneyland, was slated to be closed due to poor attendance. Baxter incorporated most of the Audio-Animatronics figures from America Sings with his idea for a log flume attraction that would eventually be named Splash Mountain, based on the animated sequences from Disney's 1946 film Song of the South. Other versions of Splash Mountain opened at Tokyo Disneyland and Magic Kingdom in 1992. In 2020, Disney announced that the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom versions of the attraction would be re-themed based on Disney Animation's 2009 film The Princess and the Frog, and that Baxter would contribute to this new version as a creative advisor. In 2022, it was announced that the new attraction will be called Tiana's Bayou Adventure with an opening set for "late 2024" at both parks. The Magic Kingdom version of Splash Mountain closed in January 2023, while the Disneyland version closed in May 2023. Tiana's Bayou Adventure opened in June 2024 at Magic Kingdom, and in November 2024 at Disneyland.

Indiana Jones Adventure Indiana Jones Adventure was revealed on March 4, 1995, and was worked on by over 400 Imagineers. Baxter was one of the main supervisors of the project and led his own team of 100. They were responsible for designing the half-mile-long track that was built over the previous Eeyore parking lot as well as the different concepts for each room in the ride.

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage was opened on June 11, 2007. The track for Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage had previously existed as the new ride simply replaced its predecessor, the Submarine Voyage. Baxter and his team were in charge of collaborating with Pixar to create the story-line and animation for the ride. Difficulty came however when Baxter was faced with the challenge of syncing the sound with the ride. Due to the fact that there were 20 windows on each side of the submarine, all featuring different aspects of the ride at the same time, the sound had to keep in time with what was being portrayed, no matter where a guest would sit within the underwater vessel. In 2004, Baxter was the recipient of the DFC Disney Legend award from the Disneyana Fan Club. In August 2013, in a ceremony at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA, Baxter was inducted as a Disney Legend. A few months later, in November 2013, Baxter received the honor of having his name appear on Main Street, U.S.A. windows at Disneyland. The window, which can be found above the Main Street Magic Shop reads:Main Street Marvels – Tony Baxter, Inventor, Imagination is at the heart of our Creations